Paralympic Gold Winner Aims for Olympic History in LA28

A Paralympic champion who shoots his bow with his feet just announced he's chasing a goal no one has ever achieved in archery history.

Matt Stutzman, the athlete known worldwide as "The Armless Archer," is returning to competitive archery after retiring following his gold medal win at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. His new target? Qualifying for the LA28 Olympic Games and becoming the first person to win gold in both the Paralympics and Olympics for archery.

"I thought winning gold in Paris was the perfect ending to my career," Stutzman said. "But when compound archery was added to the Olympic program for Los Angeles, I realized my story might not be finished."

Born without arms, Stutzman developed an innovative technique using his feet to hold his compound bow and a release mechanism positioned near his shoulder. That determination led him to win Paralympic silver in London 2012, then gold in Paris 2024 with a Paralympic record score of 149 out of 150.

After his Paris victory, he became the first Para athlete named World Archery's overall Archer of the Year. Now he's setting his sights even higher.

Compound archery will debut at LA28 through a mixed team event featuring one male and one female archer from each nation. Stutzman will compete against the nation's top compound archers at USA Archery's U.S. Olympic Trials to earn the men's position on the team.

His campaign represents one of the most ambitious crossover attempts in Olympic and Paralympic history. If successful, he would compete in the Olympic Games just four years after winning Paralympic gold.

Why This Inspires

Stutzman's return isn't just about personal achievement. It's about redefining what's possible for athletes with disabilities.

"This is bigger than coming out of retirement," he explained. "It is about challenging what people believe is possible."

His message to young athletes with disabilities is clear: they don't have to accept someone else's definition of their limits. "I want to prove that when I step onto the range, I am not just a great Para archer," Stutzman said. "I am one of the best archers in the world."

His competitive intensity and remarkable accuracy have already made him one of the most recognizable athletes in international archery. Now he's ready to prove that Paralympic champions can compete at the highest Olympic level.

The road to LA28 won't be easy, but if anyone can hit this unprecedented target, it's the archer who already proved the impossible is just another challenge to overcome.